Twisted Dimensions
It was late at night, and Rune had just jolted awake by a sudden loud noise in her bedroom. She looked over to her right to see a large, blue, glowing portal hovering in her bedroom. Immediately, she got out of bed and walked towards the portal, thinking it was one of Omega's. Then, however, she stopped, taking note of the fact that Omega's portals were usually pitch black, and this one was blue. She shook her head, thinking it was still one of his tricks, and stepped through the portal. She wanted to see what he was up to now. She found herself outside Omega's lair. She cracked her knuckles and cautiously walked towards the building. Then, she kicked the door open, and saw Omega sitting in a chair, his back to her. Startled by the sudden noise, he jumped out of his chair, whirled around, and a look of shock overcame his face. "Rune!" Immediately, he put a barrier around himself, and, within the barrier, he produced a medium sized dark purple shield of energy and held it in front of himself. Rune was confused by this, but still thought he was plotting something. "What are you up to?" she demanded. "Why did you put a portal in my room?" Omega's expression changed to one of confusion. "Portal? I didn't put a portal in your room." "Yeah, right! You expect me to believe that?!" Omega shook his head. "Rune, I swear. It wasn't me. I haven't done much at all today." Rune's expression softened. "Then....who did, I wonder?" "I don't know, but....if you'd be willing to give me a free pass today, then I could help you get to the bottom of this." Rune raised an eyebrow. "Free pass? What do you mean?" Omega smiled sheepishly, fear in his eyes. "Well, you know. If you could....abstain from trying to kill me just this once?" "Kill you?!" Rune exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "What are you talking about?!" Omega tilted his head slightly to one side, a look of confusion on his face. He'd heard the sincerity in her voice, and knew something was strange. "Rune, are you....feeling alright?" "What's going on, Omega?!" Rune shouted, her confusion growing. "You're acting crazy today!" Slowly, the barrier around Omega disappeared, as did his shield. He narrowed his eyes. "You're not yourself today..." "Me?! You're the one who's gone bat shit insane!!" Omega, cautiously, took a few steps towards Rune. "No, there's....something different about you...." Rune crossed her arms, glaring at Omega skeptically. "You don't have any desire to kill me today?" Frustrated, Rune exclaimed, "No, you idiot! Why would I?!" Omega's eyes widened. "Because you're always trying to kill me!" "LIAR!!" Rune snapped so loudly Omega took a step back. "You COUNT on me not being able to kill you! You play on my good nature all the time! You know I can't do it, and you take advantage of it constantly!!" There's was a brief moment of silence. Then, Omega slowly shook his head, and said, "No....that's not true...." He looked to the ground for a moment, scratching his forehead, then looked back up at Rune. "I don't understand....we're both telling the truth. I can hear the....conviction...in your voice..." Rune sighed, not sure what else to say. Omega took a few more steps closer and said, "You say a portal lead you here?" "Yeah." "And you thought it was one of mine?" "Yeah, but....I'll admit it wasn't the right color..." "Color?" "Well, your portals are usually black, but this one was blue." "Blue?" Omega's eyes widened. "Oh.....now it all makes sense..." "What?" Omega looked into Rune eyes. "You may think me crazy for saying this, but it has scientific research behind it....the existence of blue portals and whatever may come through them....I believe you're from another dimension." Rune had been to various other dimensions before, but never one where she'd met another Omega. Although, she still knew it was possible. "So..." she started. "In this dimension, I'm trying to kill you?" "Well...yes. This dimension's Rune started off merely trying to stop me from enslaving the quipps. However, as time passed, she became more and more angry with me and my abuse of the species. Then, one day, she just...snapped....and decided that Belladore, and Earth, would be better off without me. She burns with hatred for me." A chill went down Rune's spine. "This is a path..." she thought. "That I could've actually gone down." She had always felt a great deal of hatred for Omega, and in this dimension, it seemed that her aggressive feelings had taken over. She rubbed her temples with her fingertips. "This is all so weird..." she said. Omega smiled and chuckled a bit. "Tell me about it. It's like an episode of the Twilight Zone." They both laughed a bit. Then, however, Rune thought about Omega's situation, and took pity on him. She looked him in the eyes, her own eyes filled with sadness. "Omega. Is there....any way we can stop the Rune from this dimension?" Omega shook his head sadly. "No, I'm afraid not. I honestly believe the only way to stop her would be to kill her, and it would seem neither of us desire that." Rune looked to the ground, saddened. Omega smiled sympathetically and said, "Don't be sad, Rune. I appreciate your concern, but this is my burden to bear, not yours. And as much as I fear this dimension's Rune.....I still care about her." Rune looked up at him a bit surprised. He continued, "I understand her frustration, considering what her ideals are, and.....I am, ultimately, the one who pushed her over the edge." "But, I...." Rune said, sadly. "I should've tried to quell my hatred..." "No!" Omega declared, causing Rune to look at him in slight shock. "You should never repress your feelings. That can only lead to disaster." Feeling comforted, Rune smiled a bit. "You most likely desire a way to return to your dimension, yes?" Omega asked, smiling amicably. Rune raised her eyebrows slightly. She honestly hadn't thought about it since arriving. "Well.....yeah, but.....how would we go about making another portal?" A look of deep though crossed Omega's faced as he clenched his chin between his forefinger and thumb. "Hmm....that I'm not sure about. I could try to produce one myself, but it will take some time.....oh.....also, Rune...." "Yeah?" "It's about another scientific law about inter-dimensional portals. When you entered the portal.....so did your double." Meanwhile, back in Rune's native dimension, it was late at night, and Omega was sitting at a desk in his lair, writing down some ideas for his next attempt to enslave the quipps. Then, suddenly, the front door burst open, and in walked Rune with a vicious glare and a twisted grin on her face. Although he was initially surprised, Omega smirked at her, and said, "Ah, Rune! Here to hinder my plans again? I'm afraid it won't be so easy this time!" However, Rune didn't respond, and merely raised her hand, shooting a massive ray of fire at Omega who only just barely managed to dodge it by willfully falling out of his chair onto the floor. Now, Omega was quite shocked. "What the-?!" he blurted out. Rune walked closer, summoned her fire sword to her hand, and swung it as hard as she could, unleashing one of the most powerful waves of fire Omega had ever seen from her. He raised a barrier around himself just in time, protecting him, although the barrier began to crack in some places. "Oh no..." he thought. Finally, the fire wave ended, and Omega cancelled the barrier before it shattered completely. "Rune, what's wrong?!" The venomous grin still plastered across her face, Rune answered, "What's wrong? You're what's wrong." Rune swung her sword straight down at him, attempting to hit him directly with the sword. Omega raised another barrier that blocked the attack. He scrambled to his feet and backed up slightly. Rune began slashing wildly at the barrier with her sword, and cracks appeared in it with every swing. Omega channeled all of his strength into keeping the barrier up, but he was getting quite tired. The barrier shattered, and Omega fell backwards, landing on his back on the floor. He managed to sit up, and he looked at Rune with great fear in his eyes. Rune walked towards him, sword in hand. "Please..." Omega choked out. "Mercy..." Finally, the grin left Rune's face, and she glared viciously at Omega. "Shut up!" she yelled. Omega blinked in surprise. Rune continued, "What would you know about mercy?! You, with your endless oppression of the quipps! I'm sick of you...." she raised her sword in the air, preparing to swing down at him. "And I'm done with you." Omega squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for his end, as Rune swung her sword straight down at him. CLANG! Omega slowly opened his eyes to see....another Rune standing with her back to him, blocking the attack with her own sword. "What the...." Omega choked out. "Two Runes?!" The Rune defending Omega glared at her double and said, "Leave him alone." A look of bewilderment crossed the doppelganger's face. "Who the hell are you?!" "You're in the wrong dimension," Rune responded. "What?!" the second Rune replied. However, the Omega from the other dimension stood next to Rune, and said, "It's true. I'm the Omega you're trying to kill. Please, Rune....leave this dimension's people out of it." The Omega, on the floor behind Rune and alternate Omega, nearly fainted at the sight of his double. "First a second Rune, and now a second me!" he thought. The Rune from the alternate dimension looked back and forth between her double and the Omega from her own dimension for a moment. Then, glared at both of them and said, "Why shouldn't I kill the Omega from this dimension too? He's only going to continue his reign of cruelty on the quipps." The original Rune stepped forward, eyes filled with sadness. It felt quite strange to be talking to a mirror image of herself, but she pleaded, "Please....I know you gave up on him, but I still haven't." The second Rune glared and said, "You should. That little bastard will continue his bullshit until the day he dies. And that may very well be today." She grinned menacingly. "I'll kill the both of them." The original Rune shook her head with a sad expression on her face. "No, please. Don't." The smile left the second Rune's face, and she stood glaring at her double for a moment. Then, she said, "I used to be like you. Hopeful and caring. But that side of me is dead now. Omega killed it." She turned her head and glared at her own dimension's Omega. The Omega she addressed said, "I know, Rune. But please...take your frustrations out on me. Not this world's Omega." "He's the same person!" she screamed. "He's going to make people suffer time and time again! He thrives on persecution!" The original Omega, still sitting on the floor, raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. He had once told Rune that he enjoyed terrorizing rotten people, and that he actually liked the way criminals suffered in prison. He'd said that he liked their persecution. He always knew that Rune often pitied criminals left to suffer in prison, and he knew that his actions and philosophies upset her. However, judging by the behavior of this other Rune, it seemed that he had upset Rune much more than he realized. "I'll kill you both and do two worlds a service!" the second Rune declared. Then, she shot fire out of her hand at the alternate Omega. The fire shot out with the force of a tornado, and several pillars of flames spun around each other within it. The original Rune was stunned by the force of the blast. She could see that this other world's Rune was definitely more powerful than her. However, when the blast ended, the alternate world's Omega had a barrier around him, and seemed as though he hadn't broken a sweat blocking the wave of fire. Omega looked up at him and thought, "Wow.....they're both really powerful...." Finally, he got to his feet, but stood motionless, not sure what to do. The alternate versions of Rune and Omega started to go at it, firing their powers at each other, dodging attacks, and Rune threw some punches, most of which Omega blocked with his hands. Rune raised a wall of fire to protect Omega and herself from the stray beams of energy and fire that were shooting all over the place. After a few minutes, the combatants were growing tired. Finally, the alternate Omega raised his hand, and purple bands of energy appeared around Rune, pinning her arms to her sides. She was completely exhausted, unable to fight anymore. The second dimension's Omega said, "I'm taking you back to our dimension...by force if need be." The alternate Rune said, "I'm not leaving this dimension until its version of Omega is dead." Then, she pulled her arms free with a burst of energy, and the bands snapped off and vanished. Rune's eyes widened. She couldn't believe how strong her doppelganger was. The second Rune created a massive wall of fire between herself and the three others in the room. Rune ran forward, easily passing through the barrier. However, when she emerged on the other side, her strange twin was gone. "How....?" she thought. The barrier of fire vanished. Rune looked back at the two Omegas and said, "She....disappeared...." "Yes," the second Omega said, "In my dimension she gained the ability to teleport." A twinge of envy rippled through Rune. This double not only had more powerful versions of her abilities, but she also possessed entirely new ones as well. She shook her head and said, "We have to find her. Any ideas where she may have gone?" "Well.... do you have any bars nearby?" "Bars?!" Rune and Omega said in unison. Roughly an hour later, the trio of concerned superhumans had managed to locate the missing doppelganger. She was inside a bar about a mile away from Omega's lair. They watched her through a window, taking care not to be seen by her. She sipped some alcohol from a small glass. She wasn't twenty-one yet, but Belladore had different laws regarding alcohol. "She drinks?" the original Omega inquired. The second Omega sighed with concern and responded, "Yes. She never gets full-on drunk, only buzzed, but yes. She drinks now." "But....but Rune hates alcohol. She can't stand the taste," Omega remarked. "My Rune got used to it. She still doesn't like the taste, but she tolerates it." He shook his head and said, "It's all because of her great empathy." "Empathy? What do you mean?" Rune asked. "My Rune, just like you, has great compassion. Even though the quipps are terrible, she still feels for them when they suffer. She feels their pain as though it was her own. Every time I made them suffer, she suffered. And it built up. Eventually, the pain became so great that she....started self-medicating. I never thought I would make an innocent person feel so miserable....but I did. I had no idea I was hurting her so much. By the time I realized it, it was already too late. She'd already snapped." "Wow...." Omega said in awe. He thought, "I....I had no idea...." He looked at Rune. "That's how I'm making her feel?" "And....she doesn't just drink liquor. She also abuses tranquilizers. They're prescribed to her, and she's not addicted to them, but she doesn't need to take them as often as she does...." the alternate Omega explained. "My god," Rune exclaimed. She watched carefully as her double took another long sip from the glass. This was the first time she'd seen her twin without a vicious glare on her face. But she couldn't forget the utterly hateful expression her double had been wearing a short while back. Category:Story Category:Hero Forever Category:Finished Stories